Coil-forming apparatus



y 27, 1943- o. F. ARTHUR 2,325,462

COIL FORMING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 15 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l HHHHHHH!" E a INVENQTQR WM July 0. F. ARTHUR con FORMING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 13, 1942 2 Sheets-Sfieet 2 .cal turns can readily be varied.

Patented July 27, 1943 "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE com-roamnohrranuus OscartF." Arthur, Belle Vernonfl'a.v jf A piieationiOct ber 13,194.2, s minal 461,873 S QI aiinS. (chise 67) V i I 7 My invention relates to coil-forming apparatus and more particularly to theforming of helical coils of heavy Wiresuch as those shown infthe drawing of my application s1i 21,1 NQ 4;37 ,i98 9,

filed April 7,1942 (now Patent No. 2,315,180),. -for hingedly connecting the panelsof wire mat structures; It will of course be understood that these coils can have various other uses.

One object of my invention is to providea V coiling apparatus of simple form and a minimum number of moving parts. I

form, and wherein the pitcher angle of the heli- One form. which my invention may {take the tracks 25; YThe carriage has depending flanges 36 extending downwardlyifrom the bed plate 31 of the carriage, atithe'inner sides of the rails 25,'to serve as guides during travel of the carriage. 1Q 7 At its forward end the carriage'has a tubular bearing 39 that has close sliding fit with the mandrel l1 and is provided with an oil cup 4| shownin the accompanying,"drawings wherein Figure l is a perspective viewofthe apparatus; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionalview of a portion of theapparatus ofFig, l, on anienlarged scale; Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the rear cross bracing at 8, 9, m, H and |2.=e 'Ijensioning or truss rods l3 are connected at, their outermost ends to'the members 8 and- Hand are jfOlIlGdtO- ggether by; a turn buckle ;i 4, to brace thestructure in: a manner common :to 'framewor-k of rthis char- .acter.

A: mandrel l'i is .iournaled in;bearings toifbe hereinafter described and at its. front end.is

driven by an electric motor I8 through a pulley. At its: front l9 that is secured to-the mandrel. end the mandrel] l is supported in a close fitting bearing on the framework. 20, while at .its rear end it extends loosely througha hole inthe cross-- 'piece [2, which hole is' sufficiently large to permit the wire coil to bepushed therethroughg: .lntermediate its endsthe mandrel is. supported by bearings 22 and 23 that are carried on awheeled truck. thatihas a roller 24 at eachoi its four r these e s ridin nt wa sii tha 'ir om which drops of oil fall upon'the mandrel 'by a valve which is'ope'rated by a handle 42.

to lubricate it,-the flow of oil being controlled The carriage is also provided with an arm 43 that has guideroller's' 44 thereon for a stock of wir 45that is drawn from a coil (not shown) 1e: bending rolls 46 and 41 are secured to the arm and serve as a' wire-guiding element, While a pair of rollers 48 and 4 9 that serve as second and third wire-guiding elements, respectively;. are mounted on the carriage'in positionto engage the it'urns of wire as it is wra'pp'ed'on them'andrel.

These rolls notonly assist in placing permanent bends orturns of desired pitch in the wire, but serve as a means for feeding the carriage for- Wardly as the wire is wound thereon through 'roare carried by the framework The bearinglii islarge enough to aocommodate the coil also.

' i The axles of the truck are connected byreach rods 25 and TL Therod 2'! is extended to engage a roller 30 on a push rod which controls a switch 31, for'the purpose of automatically interrupting the motor circuit when" the truck reaches the front end of the machineI A wheeledjcarriage 32jwhich carries bending dies or elements, has its wheelsj 33 riding upon 'tation of the mandrel. The mandrel is held "against turning relative tothe wire spiral by a clamp 51, As the mandrel rotates, the wire 45 will be drawn past the 'bendingdies or rollers '46- '-41and' wrappejd around the mandrel. The Iturns of thelgwire helix will engage at their ior-' 'ward sides against the rear sides of the rollers '48+4il,isuccessively, whose axes are set angu- =to theroller 46; determines the pitch of the helix'formed on the mandrel. T Ifhus, if they are set closer to-the rciller 46; the pitch will-be shorter and the turns closer together-thani'f they are jsetfarther back onthe carriage. To permit of such adjustments, the rollers are journaled on "slide'plates 53 and 53m respectively that are entree for th'ereception of clamping screws 54' v rollers 33.

54a, the screws 55 can be turned to shift the,

ment of and 54a respectively that have threaded engagement with the plate 31 of the carriage. At its rear end each slide plate has a down-turned flange 55 that carries an adjusting screw 56 which has thrust engagement with a sleeve 51 that surrounds a shaft 58 which carries the rear Upon loosening the screws 54 and plates 53 and 53a longitudinally of the carriage. With changes in pitch, the rollers 48 and 49 will have tolbe adjusted relative to one another,

by their adjusting screws, in accordance with such changes.

In further explanation of the operation of:

the apparatus, at the beginning of "a coil-forming operation, the carriage 32' is'moved to the.

rear of the machine, at the uprights 5, the truck 211-26 being pushed rearwardlyagainst the -up"-' The wire is then threaded past the rollers 4446,

rights 5, by the rear end of the carriage;

El, 68' and H, and afew turnsthereof made around the mandrel and pushed through the crossbar 12. Thereuponth'e clamp 51 i'sfappli'ed to secure the rear end of the wire to the mandrel.

,A starter switch 59 is then closed to setrthe motor 18 in operation to rotate the mandrel l1.

As above explained, this rotation will result in wrapping the wire around thefmandrel in helical turns with a'pitch depending upon the adjustthe rollers 'fi ls relative to the roller After 'thei' carriage'flz has: advanced some distance its front end will engagethe front end of the truck 24 -28 and push such truckrorwardly.

The purpose of the truck is fto carry the bearings 2 and 23 which s'upportthe mandrel l 'l at points between its ends and the carriage, so as to avoid whipping or excessive vibration of the mandrel, whichis necessarily of considerable length -lz ft.'to15'it.jorinore. l When th'etruck and the carriage have appreached their foremost limit "of movement, the

bar 2's. will actuate the switch-operating element 38-, to interrupt the motor circuit. The mandrel v, at this time is approximately filled with-a coil.

Thereupon the clamp Eris removed and the carriage 32 pulled backward manually to its starting'position at the rear end of the machine. This-rearward niov'ement'oi the "carriage is'e'ffetft'd by Which SE! a cable Bl that is 0011- v.nectedfto the carnagethe Winch being operated in'the usual frnanner rewin thec'able thereon.

, Duringithis backward v helices will slide oil the, rear end of the mandrel andiunben't portions ,oij't'hejwire atom be car- 'ried. rearwardiyfaiong ,with 'the guide arm as. There wills'till be a, few turns of'wirere ainingon the rear end of the ,mandrel, and sent will be made at the 'en'dof the mandrel to sever the rearwardly-projectingportion of the helix from that which remain on the mandrel.

Thereupon the clamp 5! is again applied to the wire and the mandrel as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 able along the traclrway, means for clamping an 'end of a wire 'ontharhandrel, ata point rearwardl-y of the carriage, a wireguid-ing element movable with the carriage and; positioned to direct' the wirein alatera-l direction to the manclrel, and a second wire-guiding element on the andthevstartr switch as operated to jiv'e m 1 another coiling operation; 1

7 direction longitudinally of the carriage, to vary the pitch of the wire turns on the mandrel.

2. Coiling apparatus comprising a trackway, a mandrel extending parallel to the 'trackway, means for rotating the mandrel, a carriage mov- 11 able along'the trackway, means for clamping an and a'third element on the carriage, at a point rearwardly of the second-named element, and positioned to engagethe forward sides of the wire turns as it is being Wrapped on the mandrel, to exert a thrust that will move the carriage forwardly during the wrapping of wire on the mandrel. 1 r T 3. Coiling apparatus comprising a trackway, a mai-ldrel extending parallel to the 'trackway, rjaea-ns for rotating the mandrel, a carriage movable along the trackw-ay, means for clamping an endof a'wire on the mandrel, at a point rearwardly of theca'rriage, a wire guiding element positioned adjacent to a forward portion of the carriage and movable -therewith to direct the wire in a lateral direction to the mandrel, a second wire-guiding elementon thec'arriage at a point rearwardly of the first-named element and positiQned -to-engag-e the forward sidesof the wire turns which are formed on the mandrel as the wire is drawn past the first-named element dur- 0 'ing rotation of the mandrel, a mandrel bearing jm'ovable on the trackway and having movement axially relative to the carriage, so arranged that direction of carriage travel the bearing will brought into proximity to 'the adjacent e'n'd or the carriage duringits final jstag'e r of -movementin that direction, and means operative upon movement of the carriage in the opposite direction to-shift the :bearing axially therewith b'nl'y after the 'oarriage has travelled a substan- 'tlal 'distance. V I 4. Coiling apparatus comprising a trackway, a mandrel extending vparallel to the trackway, means for rotating the mandrel, a carriage movalole'alo ng the trackway, means for clamping. an end 0! a wireon the mandrel', at'a point rearwardlyfof the carriage, 'a wire-guiding element positioned. adjacent tox'a forward portion of the darria'geand movable therewit'l'l' to direct the wire 3m a lateral direction tothe man'drel, means for Fn'ovin'g the-carriage forwardly at a predetermined rate during rotation of the mandrel to coil a wire' thereon, and'a bearing fer-the mandrel having 'meven ent axially relative to the carriage 'andmovable along thefsa'id trackway,the connection being such that m -o'ne direction oftravel the be'aringwill lag a substantial distance behind thecarriagep W j v 75., Ceiling apparatus comprising i a trackway, fa inahdreli'eir-tendiiig' parallel to the trackway, "means for rotating the mandrel, a carriage movable along the trackway, means for clamping an end of a wire on the mandrel, at a point rearwardly of the carriage, a wire guiding element positioned adjacent to a forward portion of the carriage and movable therewith to direct the wire in a lateral direction to the mandrel, means for moving the carriage forwardly at a predetermined rate during rotation of the mandrel to coil a wire thereon, and bearings for the mandrel,

located forwardly and rearwardly of the carriage and movable along the trackway, the bearings having movement axially relative to the carriage, so arranged that in one direction of travel by carriage one bearing will lag behind the same, and in the other direction the other bearing will lag behind the carriage.

6. The method of forming helical coils from wire which will retain a bent shape and is of substantial. stiffness, which comprises drawing the wire past a guide securing one end thereof to an end of a mandrel, imparting relative rotative movement to the guide and the mandrel about the longitudinal axis of the mandrel, and simultaneously imparting relative movement to the mandrel and the guide in a direction longitudinally of the mandrel axis, toward the other end of the mandrel, the turns of the helices being utilized to impartthe said relative longitudinal movement.

7. Coiling apparatus comprising a mandrel and means for rotating it, a carriage movable forwardly along the mandrel, a wire-guiding element movable with the carriage and positioned to direct wire to the mandrel, in a path angular to the axis of the mandrel, means for connecting the foremost end of a wire to the mandrel, and an element on the carriage in position to engage the forward sides of the wire turns which are formed on the mandrel during its rotation,

,whereby'the table and said elements are progressively advanced during the forming of a coil on the mandrel.

'8. Coiling apparatus comprising a mandrel and means for rotating it, a carriage movable forwardly along the mandrel, a wire-guiding element movable with the carriage and positioned to direct wire to the mandrel, in a path angular to the axis of the mandrel, means for connecting the foremost end of a wire to the mandrel, and an element on the carriage in position to engage the forward sides of the wire turns which are formed on the mandrel during its rotation, whereby the table and said elements are progressively advanced during the forming of a coil on the mandrel, the table being movable also rearwardly along the mandrel, when the saidwire end is disconnected from the mandrel, whereby the second-named element will strip the coil from the mandrel.

OSCAR F. ARTHUR. 

